P1, which was famous for its bold Potong campaign has kicked off its new “Ready to P1ay” offering. The 4G WiMAX telco says they have made improvements to its network and the campaign signifies its confidence to take on new subscribers. This is made possible with its backing by TM and SK Telekom.

With the new promotion, new customers can sign up with P1 Broadband with RM0 upfront payment and RM0 first month subscription fee. This gets you connected without paying anything until your first bill.

If there’s one operator that’s got a point to prove, it’s P1. And if P1 has only one point to make, loud and clear to you, it would be this – the challenger operator is making a comeback. Network performance, customer service quality and trust issues are just some of the many things that need fixing at P1, and the two foremost executives in the company – Kelvin Lee and Azizi A. Hadi – know exactly what to do to turn P1 around.

Kelvin Lee is no stranger to P1, having been part of the Green Packet family for a good ten years. In 2011, Kelvin was asked by CC Puan, the CEO of P1, to join P1 in the role of Chief Commercial Officer to manage the sales and customer services of P1’s products and services. A veteran in Green Packet and P1, Kelvin has been through it all. And yet, the upbeat, approachable techie, is more energetic than ever, ready to transform P1 to become one of the country’s most innovative mobile operator.

His optimism and energy is understandable, Kelvin has an experienced point man watching his guard. Azizi in his role as P1’s COO, is a new joiner but is no stranger to the telco industry given his wealth of experience in TM for the past eight years covering various roles from oversight of migrating from a digital to fully IP network, the HSBB (high speed broadband) rollouts to the SME business segment management.

Kelvin and Azizi believe that P1, with full support from, Telekom Malaysia and SK Telecom, two giants from the telecommunications world – both with considerable investments in P1 – and a team of experts that’s now more pumped up than ever, is now in the best position to shake up the telecommunications space in Malaysia with the promise of being country’s first ever fully converged telecommunications provider.

But what does this mean to you? Are you ready for a fully converged telecommunications provider?

Watch as Kelvin and Azizi explain why 2015 is going to be the year for P1 and you.

For those with the need for speed, TM is now offering faster 30Mbps and 50Mbps Unifi options for residential use at selected locations. The plans were discovered by Amanz and TM is offering them as a bundled package with its HyppTV subscription.

The base option with 30Mbps connection is going for RM210.94/month inclusive of GST. This lets you add-on a TV Pack of either HyppTV Aneka , Varnam or Ruby. If you want more channels, it will cost you RM242.74/month for its HyppTV Jumbo Package.

To bump up from 30Mbps to 50Mbps, TM is offering the extra 20Mbps speed as an add-on upgrade at RM53/month on top of its base offering. So at the bare minimum, this calculates to RM263.94/month inclusive of GST. Not bad, considering the current VIP 20Mbps plan is also priced the same at RM263.94/month.

Running from today till the 7th, Menara Telekom will be playing host to the P1 career fair for those interested in joining the growing telco.

Last year, TM heavily invested in P1 and it’s parent company Green Packet and acquired the telco, but even with this P1 still has quite a mountain to climb if it wants to carve itself a space with the bigger operators. But where TM is extremely popular in fixed line broadband, P1 still has the advantage when it comes to mobile broadband services as it owned better spectrum infrastructures. TM may use P1’s already available assets to launch an unlimited use broadband service that might rival the likes of Maxis, DiGi, Celcom and U-Mobile which all feature data caps for the large majority of their plans.

If you’re interested in joining their growing team, admission to the fair free and potential applicants are requested to bring along their resumes and certs when they hit the fair itself.

The P1 Career Fair will be open on the 6th and 7th February at Menara Telekom. Hit the link for more details.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd. (TM), Packet One Networks Sdn. Bhd. (P1), Green Packet Bhd. and South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom have agreed to extend the longstop date for TM’s investment in P1 by two months until September 30th, 2014, according to Digital News Asia (DNA). The extension is to give TM more time to obtain necessary approvals from local telecommunications industry regulator the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

On March 27th, 2014, TM, Malaysia’s largest fixed-line telco, announced that it had agreed to buy a majority stake in P1 for RM350 million and would invest a further RM210 million into P1’s parent company, Green Packet, through the purchase of 8-year redeemable exchangeable secured bonds that could be swapped for P1 shares held by Green Packet at a later date.

In today’s announcement event, TM will be signing a partnership with Green Packet, SK Telecom and P1 for the development for a converged next-gen communication services. This signifies TM’s strong desire to venture into the wireless broadband space particularly LTE services.

In this partnership, TM is expected to anchor and take the lead while Green Packet that have founded P1 WiMAX will ensure P1’s business continuity. SK Telekom being a major wireless player in South Korea will be providing strategic and technical expertise. Through the collaboration, they will be focusing on delivering high quality LTE data services leveraging on P1’s 2.6GHz spectrum and its network of over 2,000 sites nationwide. P1 owns the valuable 50MHz spectrum in the 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz bands.

TM will hold 57% stake in P1 by injecting RM350 million into the wireless operator. Through the partnership, P1 will be a subsidiary under TM. In addition, TM will also invest up to RM210 million into Green Packet through redeemable exchangeable bonds. The investment is made through Mobikom Sdn Bhd which is a wholly owned subsidiary of TM.

According to TM Group CEO, Tan Sri Zam, the partnership is in line’s with TM’s vision of being an Information Exchange and Malaysia’s Broadband Champion. The partnership provides an LTE-ready platform to efficiently roll out wireless broadband products and accelerate time to market for its consumers.

UPDATE: TM invests RM350 million for 57% stake in P1 to roll out LTE services. More details here.

It looks like the acquisition talk of P1 is looking pretty solid. A couple of key people wearing P1’s trademark black turtleneck are spotted in today’s announcement event.

Today TM is expected to acquire a major stake in P1 making it a strong wireless player in Malaysia. Both TM and Greenpacket – its holding company, has suspended trading of share today, adding more fuel to its earlier speculation.

The acquisition will give TM a good head start with their LTE roll out as it will gain an existing subscriber base and access to P1’s 2,000 over base stations across the country. Most importantly is P1’s valuable spectrum which they have rights to operate WiMAX at 2.3GHz and 4G LTE at 2.6MHz. This compliments TM’s existing spectrum at 450MHz and 850MHz.

It is no secret that TM plans to venture into the wireless business and has set high targets of 1 million subscribers by 2017. By acquiring an establish wireless operator, TM will catapult itself forward in the 4G LTE race.

UPDATE: TM invests RM350 million for 57% stake in P1 to roll out LTE services. More details here.

TM — Malaysia’s largest broadband service provider — is expected to announce its acquisition of P1 — a long struggling 4G operator — to the tune of RM2 billion today but many may not know that the two were once fierce competitors.

Back in 2009, P1 under the helm of Michael Lai (who was previously the CEO of now defunct TMNet), was a vibrant, fledgling operator right at the cutting edge of wireless technology. P1 was the first operator in the region to launch a WiMAX network. From an unknown, P1 grew to become a serious player in the wireless space with one of the largest and fastest growing WiMAX networks in the world. With that P1 enjoyed a healthy growth in subscribers. The new operator made all the right moves and seemed unstoppable

With Michael Lai as CEO, P1 was ambitious. Back then WiMAX was seen as the one technology that could deliver speed and performance that’s on par to fixed broadband solutions and P1 believed it could take on a giant in fixed broadband services. Michael was confident it could take on Telekom Malaysia.

It was David versus Goliath. A fast growing, greenfield operator that had a lot of verve but with limited resources taking on the nation’s old guards of broadband with massive resources. It was an entertaining match-up that gave us the memorable “Potong” campaign where P1 called Malaysians to cut the wires of fixed broadband and moved to wireless.

Obviously TM wasn’t going to take it lying down and it responded with an equally cheeky campaign making fun of some of the issues that P1 had with its wireless network.

P1 had its day with the Potong campaign. The brand sky-rocketed from an unknown to a household name and the promise of wireless freedom resonated with Malaysians.

That was five years ago. The broadband landscape is much different now. Since then, TM has strengthened its market position with UniFi, other wireless operators have adopted the more widely accepted 4G LTE standard and P1 was stuck in a rut, struggling to grow its base and its network.

Today’s acquisition announcement is interesting because many industry seniors hark back at the epic battle that TM and P1 once had. Many made jokes that a company that once wanted to “potong” so bad now has no choice but to “sambung balik” with TM but is that really the case? Perhaps not.

Fixed broadband while still in demand, is a stagnant market in Malaysia and the acquisition of P1 is important to TM as it looks to diversify its business beyond fixed broadband services. TM will gain access to valuable spectrum that will allow it to roll out 4G LTE services.

TM has set an ambitious target for its wireless business. By 2017, the operator wants to have 1 million wireless subscribers and the acquisition of P1′s 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz spectrum will be key to this goal. By acquiring P1, TM will not only have access to P1′s existing customer base but also to P1′s valuable infrastructure that consists of over 2,000 base stations nationwide including East Malaysia.

So did P1 sambung balik with TM or is TM finally embracing potong and going wireless? We can’t help but feel that Michael Lai is smiling.

UPDATE: TM invests RM350 million for 57% stake in P1 to roll out LTE services. More details here.

Months of speculation on who will acquire P1 may very well come to an end tomorrow if a media invite issued by Telekom Malaysia is anything to go by.

The invite issued today stated that Malaysia’s largest broadband provider “will be signing a milestone agreement with several industry players that are involved in wireless technologies for a collaboration which will bring immense benefit to the telecommunications industry as well as the Malaysian consumers at large.”

Interestingly both TM and Green Packet — the company that holds controlling stake in P1 — has suspended trading of share for tomorrow.

According to a Malaysian Reserve report citing sources close to the matter, TM is believed to have successfully acquired a controlling stake in 4G operator, P1.

“All details of the deal are being finalised. A signing ceremony between Green Packet and TM will be held soon.
“TM is buying a portion of Green Packet’s stake in P1,” said the source.

Predictably, TM has refused to comment on the matter but the prevailing rumour indicates that TM is expected to dish out over RM2 billion for P1 stake in a bit to expand its product portfolio beyond fixed broadband services.

The news brings to closure the much-delayed merger and acquisition exercise involving P1 since 2011, with the shortlisted potential buyers besides TM, included DiGi and YTL.

The merger is important to TM as it looks to diversify its business beyond fixed broadband services. Troubled 4G operator P1 owns valuable wireless spectrum, including the 2.3GHz band (that is currently being use for its WiMAX network), and the 2.6GHz band, which can be used for 4G LTE services. TM on the other hand, has the 450MHz and 850MHz bands that it has been using for CDMA voice and data services. While these lower bands can be used for LTE, the 2.6GHz band is one of the two widely accepted standard in Malaysia (the other being the 1800MHz band) allowing TM to tap into a bigger catalogue of LTE equipment and devices that in turn will make network expansion and subscriber acquisition relatively easier.

“If the deal happens, TM will gain access to P1’s existing customer base and valuable infrastructure that can be utilised by TM for faster growth in the wireless segment.

“TM will then be a very large player in the business, as they would have a combined deployment of low- and high-frequency bands,” an analyst told The Malaysian Reserve.

TM has set an ambitious target for its wireless business. By 2017, the operator wants to have 1 million wireless subscribers and the acquisition of P1’s 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz spectrum will be key to this goal. By acquiring P1, TM will not only have access to P1’s existing customer base but also to P1’s valuable infrastructure that consists of over 2,000 base stations nationwide including East Malaysia.

While the question of who’s acquiring wireless telco P1 is still up in the air, a report by The Star points out very strong reasons that TM could be its new buyer.

TM which has strong footing in the fixed broadband business has plans to roll out LTE service this year. While it has allocation to operate with the 450MHz and 850MHz spectrum, it isn’t enough to deliver full 4G services especially data. Their lower frequency spectrum has the advantage of better coverage but it has limited capacity for high-speed data transfers. To fulfil the gap, TM needs to partner or acquire a telco that has allocation for the higher 2600MHz spectrum and P1 is currently looking like an ideal choice. Previously we heard that TM intends to roll out LTE by February and it is likely to be held back until this merger or acquisition is finalised.

Rolling out LTE will be a daunting task for TM and they have set an ambitious target of 1 million subscribers by 2017. By acquiring P1, it not only gives them a chunk of its existing customer base but also its valuable infrastructure that consists of over 2,000 base stations nationwide including East Malaysia. This would definitely give TM a good head start instead of rolling a new wireless network from scratch.

The report also added that while demand for fixed data is strong, it is seeing a slowdown in terms growth. This spurs the urgency to look into other potential areas such as wireless services. Considering the vast availability of 4G LTE devices even for entry level smart phones, wireless data is broadly seen as the next area of growth. At the moment, Maxis is a dominant 4G LTE player while Celcom, DiGi and U Mobile are aggressively expanding its coverage and services. If TM intends to be a formidable player, they would definitely need a fast forward route just to keep up with the competition.

So far there’s nothing official yet but we expect both P1 and its new buyer to make an announcement very soon.